By Sheila Dassatt
During the HeyDay of the eighties, it seemed that if you were a lobsterman in Maine, You had a tape player on your boat and a case full of Merle Haggard tapes. If you had a choice, it was “You can pick from Merle Haggard or Merle Haggard.” It was the way it was with an occasional Hank Williams, Jr. or Bocefus tape mixed in there with Family Tradition, which was a trademark of our family during boat race season. I’m sure that even if you were born in the eighties, the music lives on.
With the events that have gone on this past week in our country, how can I write an article without mentioning it? I hope that you survived the Covid virus, truly, and was also able to go and vote. Whether you went Red or Blue, that is your God given right that people like our veterans gave us from their sacrifices. This week is also Veteran’s Day, which is observed on November 11th, which is a sacred day for our beloved veterans. I am proud to say that we have a lot of veterans in our family. I’m sure that you do too, especially if you are a Baby Boomer. Our Dad served in the U. S. Navy on the Destroyer U.S.S. CANBERRA which was a cruiser during World War II. So, we’re Baby Boomers for sure.
How does this tie in with Merle Haggard’s Rainbow Stew? This song was written a long time ago, and the verses are true to this day. I will share the verses with you and you can see what you think: “There’s a big, brown cloud in the city, and the country side’s a sin. The price of life is too high to give up, It’s gotta come down again. The worldwide war is over and done, and the dream of peace come thru. We’ll all be drinkin’ that free Bubble-up , and eatin’ that Rainbow Stew. When they find out how to burn water, and the gasoline car is gone. When an airplane flies without any fuel, and the sunlite heats Our home. One of these days when the air clears up, and the sun comes shinin’ thru. We’ll all be drinkin’ that free Bubble-up and eatin’ that Rainbow Stew. Chorus: Eatin’ Rainbow Stew in a silver spoon underneath that sky of blue. We’ll all be drinkin’ that free Bubble-up and eatin’ that Rainbow Stew. You don’t have to get high to get happy, Just think about what’s in store. When people start doin’ what they oughta be doin’, Then they won’t be booin’ no more. When a President goes through the White House doors, does what he says he will do, we’ll all be Drinkin that free Bubble-up and eatin’ that Rainbow Stew.” There’s a lot to be said about this song, it was a look into the future for sure. I’m not pointing this to any particular group, but I am pointing out that this is how it has all become. I am tying Veteran’s Day into this, because we are all involved one way or another with our generations that went on before us and the generation that is protecting us and our country at the present time. Let’s take a long, hard look at this and hope that we can bring integrity and respect back into the picture…and kindness. Wow, what a concept!
How does this tie into the fishery? We have a lot to be paying attention to. New leadership will need to get to know us better as well as our concerns that are on the table in front of us. Our fishery is facing new challenges from a new administration. The coming administration is focusing on such things as green energy, less fossil fuels and as with any administrative change, new economic packages.
One of the biggest challenges that will most likely be talked about with great vigor will be windmills in the Gulf of Maine. There are already research projects being done on a small-scale developing prototype projects. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what this means for the commercial fisherman.
With the current legislative body and representation in Washington DC, this particular Green energy could pose a hard, uphill fight for the fishing industries. Another green energy plan is a reduction in fossil fuel emissions. We can only imagine what that will do to fuel prices for everybody. And lest we forget, we can hardly wait to see what the whale rules will do. We have until May 21st to weigh in on this one. Let’s take this one day at a time, wait on judgement.
We can only hope that the country has a smooth transition from one administration to the other. There is a lot of division at this time, politics…Red, Blue and environmentalists, conservatives, race, religion and God only knows what else is out there! With this being said, let’s work together, drink some Free Bubble-up and eat some Rainbow Stew! Take care and wishing everyone the best in the future!
